Friday

Kara shot up in bed. It was the dream again. She looked around and she was still in bed this time, not floating above her bed. It was the dream again… Her parents rushing into her room and waking her just to inject her with something and she went back to sleep. Kara thought back to a night she had woken up and went wondering around the house, she had found Bruce looking up at a family picture of him as a child with his parents. She still hadn’t fully learned English and Bruce hadn’t fully learned Kryptonian yet, but Bruce managed to tell her about how he lost his parents and dreamed of his last night with them often. Kara looked over at the Ugly Christmas Sweaters Photo on her night stand. Kara got up and started her morning.

*

“You look happy together,” Bruce said in Kryptonian.

“Thanks,” Kara said looking at the hologram, “It was from a trip we made to visit friends of my mother… I was maybe eight?”

Bruce was dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt. It was clear he hadn’t slept after watching over the midnight funeral of Carmine Falcone. Kara looked at him, he wasn’t looking at Kara or the Hologram, but rather up towards where the family room was.

“You had the dream again didn’t you?” Bruce more stated than asked.

“Yeah,” Kara said gloomily, “Each time as I am put back to sleep in the dream, I wake up.”

“It’s never easy,” Bruce said, “I have something I want you to see before you head out to classes.”

“OK,” Kara said, “This afternoon and Evening I am checking out a Pop-tart from Universal.”

“What is she picking as a stage name?” Bruce rolled his eyes, “Gothy McGoth?”

“Hellcat,” Kara snickered at Bruce’s disgust, “Going to see if she can hack a rubber suit. Don’t worry, she is over 18.”

Bruce led Kara over to main terminal that had Vicki Vale’s coverage of the mob boss’ funeral. There was one still brought up with Rupert Throne and Arnold Stromwell seated across from each other behind Falcone’s wife and sister. There was another face that was highlighted. Five foot six, about one, twenty pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian with an English palor. Kara recognized Mary Turner from school.

“What is she doing in Gotham?” Kara asked, “Last I heard she went off to Boston College or something like that.”

“That’s not the only interesting thing,” Bruce said, “Look at her lapel.”

Kara looked at the lapel on the jacket of the black suit. It had a black owl of Athena in a silver ring.

“Ok,” Kara said, “An Athenian Owl.”

“Gordon and Bullock have kept that Carmine was found with a black owl’s feather in his mouth when he was found out of the press so far…” Bruce said.

“But it is very odd that a random rich bitch shows up to a mob boss’ funeral with a black owl on her lapel,” Kara said following the train of thought.

“What do you know about her?” Bruce asked.

“She is from basically the richest old money family in Oregon,” Kara said, “She was in the class ahead of me at school, natural gymnast and acrobat. Has some scaring back by her left ear from one of those old balloon Bombs the Japanese sent against the US that she found in the woods as a kid. Nearly killed her from what the placement of one or two scars on her neck.”

“But what possible ties does she have that justify her being at Carmine’s funeral?” Bruce asked.

“No idea Bruce,” Kara said looking at her watch, “I have to get going. Meet you at the clock tower after we ditch ‘the Hellcat’?”

“Don’t go too crazy,” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

*

Kara watched the pair as she walked up towards them. Barbara was standing next to Patsy as they talked facing the entrance to Freaks of Gotham.

“So, what’s with you and Kara?” Patsy asked.

“What do you mean?” Babs retorted.

“Are you two dating?” Patsy asked.

“No,” Babs said looking down, “No, we are friends with benefits.”

“What does that mean?” Patsy asked.

“It means that we are friends,” Babs said with a smile as she caught sight of Kara down the road out of the corner of her eyes, “But sometimes we have sex together for fun.”

“So you are into girls,” Patsy said.

“Girls and boys,” Babs looked up, “Dick Grayson is my sort of boyfriend.”

“But…” Patsy started.

“It’s a long distance relationship and we are semi-open about it,” Babs said, “My dad isn’t too thrilled about the arrangement but he is the one that got me to realize I was bi.”

“What?” Patsy said.

“Yeah,” Kara said as she came up behind the pair, “I want to hear this story.”

“Senior year,” Babs started, “My dad comes in and says that Alfred was on the phone and wanted to know if I would accept the invitation to the prom and my dad asked me who invited me and would I go. I freaked out and then my dad thanked his goon for calling the house phone and told me to sit down.”

“That never ends well,” Patsy noted.

“He told me that I knew I was attracted to both Kara and Dick on a romantic level,” Babs stated, “Of course I asked how he knew and he asked me if I knew how he got to be police commissioner.”

“Great detective…” Patsy said following the logic.

“I am sure you had a snappier retort,” Kara smirked.

“I asked if he gave the governor a blow job. And I get yelled at,” Babs said, “Point is he pointed out that I was exhibiting the same romantic behaviors towards Dick and Kara and that it was ok. Later on when I was hanging out with them I tried kissing both of them and realized it had the same effect on me and my panties if you know what I mean.”

“Who did you take to the prom?” Patsy asked.

“Both,” Babs said.

“How did that work?” Patsy asked.

“She went with me to my prom at my school,” Kara said.

“And I went with Dick to our prom at our school,” Babs put an arm around Kara.

*

“I got to say, the neon yellow isn’t working,” the shop attendant said, “Maybe this?”

A roll of a darker yellow latex was haphazardly wrapped around the red haired former child star.

“Yeah that’s the yellow for the catsuit,” Kara agreed.

“Maybe some blue gloves and a hood?” Patsy prompted.

“Match the boots to the gloves and make them open fingered,” Barbara said.

“Open fingered?” Patsy asked.

“Makes it easier to do things yourself,” Kara said, “Open fingers or just covering the back of the hand.”

The shop attendant pulled back the roll of latex and Kara looked at the black cocktail dress with fake flame detailing along the sides.

“So you have a younger foster brother,” Patsy said to Kara, “What does he think of me?”

“You don’t want to know,” Barbara interjected.

“Now I am curious,” Patsy said, “What does he think of me?”

“Trust me,” Barbara snapped, “You don’t want to know.”

“Ok. Seriously,” Patsy said getting a little mad, “What does Jason think of me?”

“Eh,” Kara started trying to put it as delicately as possible, “He thinks about you sometimes when he is masturbating…”

Pasty’s face froze in a revolted look.

“You know,” Barbara started, “Spanking the monkey, choking the chicken, beating the meat…”

“Oh honey you have no place in public if you can’t handle the realization you are someone’s sexual fantasies,” the Owner came over with two black mini-dresses, “Especially dressed like that.”

“Comes with being a public figure,” Kara said, “Turns out I am pinned up in a few lockers in GCPD’s women’s changing room as well as the guys.”

“The minute my dad leaves there are going to be pictures of me plastered all over the PD locker rooms,” Barbara shrugged.

“What the?” Kara said inspecting the dresses.

“All the studs in the GGG are made of new little ‘f’s we had made,” the owner smiled, “So people know it’s our work!”

Barbara took hers and looked it over. It was a custom-made version of their military dress minidress. On the collar lapels were pink panels and on the epaulets were GGG formed from tiny metal ‘f’s rivetted into the rubber flaps. Kara instantly put it on and zipped it up over her tee-shirt leggings. Patsy arched an eyebrow at how loose the dress was over the t-shirt.

“Shouldn’t that be tighter?” Pasty asked.

“She isn’t wearing her Kevlar corset,” the shop attendant said as she was marking the sides on the dress Patsy was wearing.

“Kevlar Coreset?” Patsy asked.

“This is Gotham,” Barbara smiled.

The shop owner pulled up her “Whips and chains excite me” t-shirt and showed off the molded abs of the grey-green body suit hugging her torso.

“Like my American Express and condoms,” the Shop attendant pulled down at the neck of her t-shirt revealing her own, “I don’t leave home without it.”

“Why do you need that?” Patsy asked, the fear in voice growing.

“Why wouldn’t we? This is Gotham!” the Shop Owner said.

“But…” Patsy said.

“This is Gotham,” Barbara spoke up, “This is where the mobs and the Cartels send their fuck ups to either redeem themselves or die. And they hold funerals instead of going away parties.”

“Gotham has the lowest conviction rate in not just Connecticut, but the country,” The shop owner said, “My brother is a state trooper and all he does in check on the police involved shootings in Gotham.”

“And that body suit is bullet proof?” Patsy asked.

“Yep, it’s made out of Marthex,” Barbara smiled, “Wayne Defense developed a synthetic spider silk that is lighter and stronger than Kevlar.”

“And we are the only ones outside of the cop shops authorized to carry it,” the Shop owners said proudly.

“So…” Patsy asked nervously, “Where is mine?”

“You have to live long enough for us to make one,” The shop attendant said next to Patsy, “Each one of those is custom made by hand.”

“Speaking of which,” Kara prompted.

“I have your new one in the back,” The show owner said, “Let me get them for your two.”

*

Barbara and Kara were dancing on the floor and attracting plenty of boys and girls around them. Kara and Barbara were dressed in the black and pink trimmed uniform minidresses, the flesh toned teddy of their “Bullet Proof Coresets,” black rubber Sam Brown belts with a little purse attached to it, and black rubber thigh boots. Patsy was dressed in a red rubber “Jessica Rabbit” dress on stage belting out a cover of the Scary Marry song from Reefer Madness with the house band. As Patsy brought the song to an end the doors at the front of the club burst open. Kara and Barbara looked over at the entrance. A group of kids in white hockey gear came rushing in. The teen aged hockey hooligans were shoving people over with their sticks and grabbing wallets and purses. Kara and Barbara recognized the smash and grab tactics. Three of the hooligans came rushing over to Barbara and Kara.

“Look out!” Barbara shouted as the hooligan brought a hockey stick down on young man in-between them, “Run!”

The young man fell as the hockey stick came down on his back and head. The Hooligan kept coming and raising the puck slapping face of the hockey stick back up to strike Barbara. Barbara looked behind her quickly and then reached up and grabbed at the stick. She pulled back as she rolled back and lifted her right foot. She pulled the hooligan over and tossed him over her. She only noticed after the fact that her heel had stabbed the hooligan in the crotch. That got the attention of the other hockey hooligans attention as they looked at Kara and Barbara…

“Shit!”